Darlene Kaye “Sue” Hall: 1939-2018

Sep 12, 2018

“Well done, my good

and faithful servant.”

God graced the earth with her

presence as she

honored Him with her life.

Darlene Kaye “Sue” Hall, beloved mother, grandmother, sister and friend, took up residence in eternity with her Friend, Lord and Savior, King Jesus, on the morning of August 24. She was 79. Sue was truly an amazing woman who knew the love of Christ for herself, lived out her faith, and graced others with His love.

Born Darlene Kaye Pickard on May 10, 1939, in Los Angeles, Calif., to Montrealle (Brister) and J.E. ‘’Curly’’ Pickard, she joined two sisters, DeLora and LaRue. Her mother divorced, and then remarried Virgil Bacon, a shipyard worker during World War II.

The family moved to Albany, Oregon, in the mid-1940s where Bill and Leo, Virgil’s two young sons, joined them. Soon all moved to Waldport, Oregon, where the children attended school, the family ran several restaurants and Virgil worked at Lundy Brothers Sawmill. There, two more sisters joined the family, Georgia and Cyndi.

Sue attended Waldport High School. She married her high school sweetheart, John Hall, on August 1, 1955. The couple moved to South Beach in Newport, Oregon, in the early 1960s where their children enrolled in school and John began fishing with his uncle Clifford Hall on the F/V Pacific Queen.

In 1963, John took to plying the waters of the Bering Sea in Alaska for king crab. In time, Sue and John became co-owners with Wilburn Hall in the schooner-turned-king-crabber, F/V King and Winge.

The family moved to Kodiak, Alaska, in 1969 where Sue became an integral part of the 1970s fishermen’s wives community and activities, such as bread-baking, along with notable others, Vicky Rock, Sue Painter, Jeannie Painter, Irene Ferris, Debi Hall, Jeanne Alwert and Peggy Cross.

In 1972, with partners Vern and Wilburn Hall, the couple built the state-of-the-art F/V Provider, a 32-by-116-foot king crabber, in Bellingham, Wash. Sue spent many patient, independent, hardworking years with John sacrificing to create a foundation for her family’s future and success.

Crew members spoke of their “self-filling” refrigerator as Sue stocked food, did time as galley cook, designed interior finishes, and took a turn at the wheel at night to steer the boat away from ‘‘deadheads.’’

In the early 1980s, Sue moved to Washington, first to Lynnwood and then in 1990 to her Edmonds home, an English Tudor Cottage with a stunning landscape, which she tended as an elegant manor estate until her passing. She remained a business partner with John in the F/V Provider and San-I-Pak, a manufacturer of on-site biohazardous medical waste treatment systems. John died in 2016.

At age 44, Sue earned her GED and went on to receive a two-year degree from Puget Sound Bible College. It was there she met members of the Shoreline Christian Church, and became an active family member. With her servant’s heart she took on whatever was needed, church secretary, mission’s bookkeeper, events decorator, and choir member.

She had a beautiful voice. She also spent time as a counselor at the Crisis Pregnancy Center, a cause dear to her heart. Sue traveled to Israel twice with her church family, where she rode camels. And, with her good friend Mary Ellen Boll, cruised the Caribbean.

One of Sue’s first jobs was working alongside her mother at the high-end Adobe Hotel in Yachats, Oregon. Here it seems she crafted her work ethic, lifestyle aesthetics, sense of excellence and refinement, seen in all she did and in how she lived. Multi-talented, a trait inherited from her mother, Sue was an accomplished seamstress, sewing her children’s clothes, designing a three-piece suit for Rob’s prom, and later, Teena’s wedding dress.

She excelled at her art, crafting pieces worthy of a museum installation. She had an inspired vision that was reflected in everything she touched, be it cooking, gardening, flower arranging, sewing, crafting, organizing or designing.

It will be the blessing of her strong but gentle, gracious, loving presence, wrought with God, her family will dearly miss.

Preceding her in death were her mother, father, stepfather, ex-husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law, brothers and brother-in-law Larry Hart.

Sue passed away from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. She handled her disease with her incredible grace, the way she had managed her life.

A Memorial Service will be held at NW Church in Lynnwood, Washington, on Friday, September 14, at 2 p.m., and a Celebration of Life will be at the Adobe Resort in Yachats, Oregon, on October 20 at 2 p.m., with food and drinks included.

Correspondence to the family may be sent to Teena Hall, 18319 Olympic View Drive, Edmonds, Washington 98020.